Method and apparatus for winding



Aug. 22, 1939.

E. L. GRIGGS, JR METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR VfINDING Filed Ju1y`21, 1937 Ernez Lee Patented Aug. 22,v 1939 PATENT' OFFICE 2,170,194 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WINDING Ernest Lee Griggs, Jr., Waynesboro, Va., assignor to E. I. du-Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application July 21, 193i, vserial No. 154,836

3 Claims.

This invention-.relates to the art of winding -and unwinding thread. More particularly, it relates toa new and improved method and apparatus for. unwinding thread over the end of a stationary supply package.

In one common method of rewinding a package of thread, the thread is led off over the end of a stationary supply package or pirn and thence at high speed to another package such as a cone.

I If the yarnis not carefully, evenly, and cleanly drawn off from the supply package, there is a tendency for sloughing to occur, that is, loosening or peeling of thread layers, before their regular turn to be unwound, at the edge where i 4the thread is drawn off. Sloughing is even more apt to occur when the yarn on the supply package is tapered toward the edge from which the yarn is drawn off so that the layer of yarn at this portion is` thinner than further down on the p package. In such a package, sloughing is apt to occur throughout the tapered portion. A principal cause for this difficulty is that the balloon V in the yarn being drawn ofI'is apt to be irregular and sometimesto form a double balloon. 'I'hese g diiliculties give riseto knots and other imperfections in the finished thread and necessitate the discarding of a considerable amount of thread.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to reduce thread imperfections produced during I over-end unwindingof thread from a thread supply package such as a pirn. Another object is to prevent substantially all sloughing and to there- `by decrease the amount of waste yarn generally incurred during over-end ballooning and unwinding from a thread supply package. Another object is to lower the number of knots in a thread shipping package when the same is made by Windingupon a cone or othercore-a thread taken off over the end of a thread supply package such as a pirn. Another object is to increase the rate of speed at which thread may be successfully unf Wound from over-the end of a thread supply package. Still another object is to accomplish these results where the thread supply package has a. portion of the thread supply tapered toward the end from which the yarn is unwound. Other objects will appearhereinafter.

The objects of this invention" in general mayl be accomplished by surrounding the upper portion of the thread balloon, formed in unwinding from over the4 end of a supply package, with a shield member having an interior cone-shaped surface, said shield member being so positioned that its large diameter end faces towards the thread supply and projects somewhat beyond the free end of the package and the interior surface of said member spaced away from the thread supply.

In -the drawing, the ligure illustrates a pirn package having thread thereon (partly broken 6 away) taperedtowards the upper end, in combination with a shield member in accordance with this invention and customary collecting device.

Referring to the drawing, the stationary pirn I is provided with a core 2, a head 3, a base ange 4, and a handle 5 at the free end of the pirn. /The pirn has wound upon it a quantity of thread 6. In the embodiment show n in the drawing, the thread supply 6 has an upper tapered portion 'I so that all along this tapered portion the 15 thread has a tendency to slough. 'I'he thread 8 being unwound from the quantity of thread 6 is drawn off through a traverse guide I4 and wound, at high speed, on any suitable collecting device 9, such as a cone. In coming off from the thread supply 6 at a high speed, the thread 8 has a tendency to balloon and when this balloon gets out of control, a double balloon is formed which results in the sloughing diiculties mentioned above. In order to overcome this, an in-l verted funnel-shaped shield member III coneshaped on the interior is placed over the top of the pirn. 'I'his funnel-shaped member contains at the apex of the cone an opening II serving as a thread guide. The shield member III' and its 30 opening II are preferably centered with respect to the pirn I, that is, the axes of member III and pirn I coincide. 'Ihe position of the shield member with respect to the pirn is preferably such' that the'rim I2 of the shield member I0 is about 35 1/ inch to 1 inch below the head 3 and about 1/2. inch to 1 inch away from the thread supply Ii.

In operation, the thread 8 is brought up over the pirn head 3, strung into the interior of the shield member I0 and through the opening II to 40 the thread collecting device 9. The unwinding thread forms a balloon, the upper portion of which is slightly compressed and supported on the rim I2 and guided smoothly around on the interior supporting surface of the shield member. By thus leading th thread into the interior of the shield-shaped member instead of 'keeping' it away from the thread supply package by leading the thread onto the exterior of a guide member, as would seem to be the logical Way of overcoming the difllculty, the thread maybe transferred to a cone shipping packageata speed of 300 yards per minute or higher without the appearance of any substantial amount of sloughing.

.In all cases the funnel, coil, or other coneshapeiL device should be so positioned that its large diameter opening faces towards the thread supply and projects somewhat beyondv the free end of the pirn and spaced away from-the pirn package head. It is, of course, only necessary that the interior of the shield member be cone or similar shaped, although the funnel shape is preferred since the least' amount of material is used.

'I'he funnel may be made of any suitable material such as glass, Bakelite, hard fiber, vulcanized fiber, paper, metal, etc. In case of paper and metal, it is preferable to lacquer the surface. The funnel or shield-shaped member may. be supported in a fixed position or on a pivot I3 so that it can be swung out of the way when desired.

'Ihe use of the present invention is particularly advantageous in unwlnding thread from a supply package in which a portion of the thread on the supply package is tapered towards the end from which the thread is unwound so that the surface thread layers of the narrow portion are the same thread layers as the sub-surface thread layers of the wider portion. The invention, however, is also advantageous even where such tapered construction is not present since sloughing in the latter case is apt to occur at the edge of the supply package.

The invention may be applied to unwinding of thread of almost any type but its greatest utility lies'in the fleldof synthetic threadswhich have a smooth, slick surface and are, therefore, particularly subject to sloughing dimculties.- As synthetic threads may be mentioned those consisting of regenerated cellulose derived from viscose, cuprammoniumpr nitrocellulose processes,

cellulose esters such as cellulose acetate, cellulose acetopropionate, cellulose acetostearate, cellulose ethers such as ethyl and benzyl cellulose, fibroin. casein, and other protein threads, rubber and the like and those consisting of linear polymers such as described in U. S. Patent to Carothers No. 2,071,251. The denier of the thread may likewise vary upwards from and 75, but generally the invention is more valuable when unwinding a heavy thread having a denier of 150, 300, 500 or more.

.The thread supply package may be of any desired type Where over-end unwinding is employed, and is substantially stationary, that is, non-rotatable, with respect to the shield member. Likewise, the supply package may be in any desired position such as horizontal or vertical. The thread may-be unwound over either the bottom or the topwhen in a vertical'position or over either end when in a horizontal position.

The invention offers a relatively simple and inexpensive improvement whereby the thread may be unwound over the end of a. supply package at a greater speed without noticeably impairing vthe thread quality. For example, thread may be unwound easily at a. rate of 300 yards per minute or more and formed into good quality warp beams, skeins, cones, cops, or spool shipping packages on the customary machines. By virtue of substantial elimination of sloughing, the invention also materially reduces the number of thread breaks. In consequence, the number of knots in the cone or like package into which the `thread is wound is materially reduced as well as the loss of time and thread arising when sloughing occurs, necessitating the removal of a considerable quantity of thread. It alsoeliminates the necessity of using a centering guide although a centering guide may, if desired, be used.

By the term stationary thread supply package or stationary support is meant stationary or non-rotatable with respect to the apparatus as a whole and particularly the cone-shaped member. For example, the apparatus as a whole could move or rotate and still come within. the meaning of the term stationary.

It will be obvious that many changes and modications can be made in the above described invention without departing from the nature or spirit thereof and it is, therefore, to be understood that the invention is not to be limited except as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim- 1. A method for the over-end unwinding of thread from a stationary supply package, which thread, during the Winding thereof, is subject to thread-ballooning thereby causing threadsloughing or peeling, the step of compressing the balloon cf saidthread by passing the latter through an inverted, hollow, cone-shaped member positioned over the end of the supply package in such a manner as to partially surround the latter, the open ended apex of the coneshaped member being positioned above the top 'of said supply package, and substantially suppressing further ballooning of the thread by passing the same through an opening in said cone-shaped member which opening is substantially smaller than the thread supporting element of said supply package.

2. The method of claim 1 characterized in that the thread on said supply package is tapered towards the end from which the thread is with-y drawn. l

3. In an apparatus for the vover-end unwinding of thread which is subject to ballooning during the unwinding thereof, a stationary support for a quantity of wound thread, said support being free at one end, and an inverted, hollow, coneshaped member positioned over and partially surrounding the free end of said support, an opening in the apex of said cone-shaped mem` ber which opening is substantially smaller than said support, said apex being positioned above the free end of said support, the cone-shaped member being constructed to permit the movement of the thread around the entire internal surface thereof, and means for withdrawing said thread from said support.

ERNEST LEE GRIGGS, Jn. 

